News Archive
Susan Facilitating Central Health Community Engagement
08/03/11
Susan is currently working with the Travis County Healthcare District (Central Health) to design and implement a community engagement effort in a predominantly low-income and ethnically diverse area of southeast Austin. Vocal community activists have been lobbying Central Health to fund and build a multi-purpose health center, but the population of 17,000 is too few to meet Central Health’s criteria for a new medical center. Central Health’s Board wants to take the lead in resolving the issue by developing a strategy and process for decision-making that allows all stakeholders to be heard and to have an opportunity to influence the decision. The project includes convening a Stakeholder Advisory Group comprised of area residents that will work directly with Central Health and the general public to develop partnerships and collaborate on a plan to meet area residents’ needs.
Dexter and Jason Heading to Minneapolis for BIA and Byways
08/03/11
In August, Dexter and Jason will be in Minneapolis to kick off a series of work sessions with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) staff and tribal representatives to discuss issues, identify needed changes and suggest specific revisions to some of BIA’s land management regulations. The two-day work session will be the first of five scheduled across the country, and is part of a new process the BIA is undertaking to work with individuals affected by the regulations prior to revising them. Following the work session, Jason will attend the 2011 National Scenic Byways Conference to increase Intrinsic’s knowledge and understanding of scenic byways programs in general and specifically in working with tribes on scenic byways projects. Intrinsic will have an exhibitor booth at the conference to highlight our experience and passion for scenic byways projects.
Susan Goes With The Flows
05/1/11
Susan is facilitating an Environmental Flows Recommendation Development Process for the Guadalupe, San Antonio, Mission and Aransas River/Mission, Copano, Aransas and San Antonio Bay and Basin Area Stakeholder Committee (BBASC). The BBASC has been working for a year to develop environmental flow recommendations, and is committed to using a consensus‐based decision‐making process. Susan has been retained as a third party, neutral facilitator to help focus the process and guide the group in reaching conclusions, agreements and clarity. Susan worked with the group of diverse water-related interests, including scientists, policy makers and recreationalists, to develop a charter and process, and is now facilitating monthly meetings to work toward consensus on this complicated and important project for use in the state’s water rights permitting process.
Intrinsic Offers Myriad Tribal Relations Support
04/11/11
Intrinsic’s Arizona office recently completed work with the San Carlos Apache Tribe to facilitate public involvement on a roadway design project to improve the safety of Route 6/Cutter Road. Through two well-attended public meetings in San Carlos, their efforts generated much public input to ensure the new design addressed local needs. Jason and Dexter also recently provided recording and reporting services for the third Arizona College and Tribal Leaders Summit held in Flagstaff. The summit brought together education professionals from throughout the state to discuss best practices to support American Indian students. Currently, Dex and Jason are working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to design a series of work sessions to provide tribes throughout the nation with an opportunity to identify needed revisions to BIA land regulations. The process will eventually lead to revised regulations and tribal consultation. Last but not least, Dex and Jason are currently preparing to offer their third annual training for Coconino County employees on working with tribes and tribal communities.
Susan Promotes Public Participation
11/1/10
In October, Susan was invited to speak at a committee meeting of the North Texas Tollway Authority. She was asked to speak about the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and public involvement in general. “Intrinsic tries to educate clients about the process and about where and when the public should have a say – we try to convey how important it is to be proactive rather than reactive to save time, money and migraines,” Susan told the group. Also in October, Susan was elected Vice President of the newly formed Gulf Coast Chapter of IAP2. The group plans to get together in early January 2011 to brainstorm their future – please contact Susan if you want to get involved. And in November Susan will continue promoting Public Participation at the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation Marketplace before heading to Port Arthur, TX, to facilitate an Environmental Justice Summit for the EPA. Congratulations Susan! And keep spreading the word about the benefits of Public Participation!
Intrinsic Expands Services
09/29/10
Intrinsic is excited to announce we have expanded our services to include Creative Communications & Marketing, and we’ve officially welcomed award-winning creative David Howard to the Intrinsic team. David has been working with Intrinsic for the past few years on a project-by-project basis designing collateral materials for citizen outreach and public involvement efforts as well as marketing materials, such as an Arizona statewide scenic byways brochure. Visit our contact page, www.intrinsicinfo.com/contact, for more information about David and his extensive experience. We look forward to working with you on your Creative Communications & Marketing needs.
Happy Birthday Alexx!
09/26/10
Jason’s youngest, Alexxanthe, celebrated her 16th birthday in September. “Youngest” and “16” are not typos, as much as Jason might wish they were. She also began her high school career at Ogden High in northern Utah this year. Congratulations and happy birthday, Alexx!
Intrinsic Awarded Two-Year Contract in State of Maine
06/28/10
In June, Intrinsic was awarded a two-year contract with the State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection to provide on-call facilitation, mediation and conflict management services through June 2012. Intrinsic looks forward to engagements under this contract as we continue to expand our service area nationwide. Read the Austin Business Journal article: http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/06/28/daily48.html
Albert Family Milestones
06/15/10
Dexter's family celebrated two important milestones in June - Lianna's graduation from Kindergarten and Daniell's thirteenth birthday on June 12th! Dex is excited (and a little nervous!) about both events, and welcomes all words of wisdom on how to navigate "the teenage years"! Happy birthday, Daniell and congratulations, Lianna!
Susan Facilitates National Town Meeting for AmericaSpeaks
06/01/10
On June 26, 2010, Susan will help facilitate AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget Our Economy, an unprecedented national discussion focused on finding solutions for the budget and deficit. Susan will lead table discussions at the Dallas Convention Center, one of twenty locations where Town Meetings will occur nationwide. Additional participants will be connected via satellite video, webcast and interactive technologies. As facilitator, Susan will encourage participants to share their perspectives and listen to the perspectives of others to create solutions for our nation's economy.
